Clock Tower
by Kikyo Phantomhive
Summary: Olivia is a twelve-year-old with a spirit of adventure, stuck between two towns due to money and family issues. But when she meets a former champion and is taken in as his apprentice, she may find what she was searching for.


I felt warm licks cover my face and attempted to shield myself from Penny the eager Lillipup. She jumped off my bed and give a little _yip!_ before zooming out of my room. I sleepily sat up, my bed groaning underneath me. The sun was up and my room smelled like vanilla. My entire house smelled like vanilla though. I walked to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

After dressing, I inched down the short hallway, tired until I smelled the cooking of eggs. I was in my seat before my grandmother could say hello. She always made great food in the morning, but scrambled eggs was by far my favorite. I gobbled them down before she even finished pouring me some lemonade.

"I guess you should be off to school, then..." she said, looking a bit disappointed.

I nodded and grabbed my bag. "Bye grandma! Bye grandpa!" I kissed them both on the cheek. "Love you guys!" I could hear my grandpa chuckling as I rushed out the door.

The second I closed the door, however, I slowed to a walk. Instead of going straight down the route to Aspertia City, I turned and took the road that lead through little Flocessy Town. It was spring, and I could hear the chirps and sings of different Pokemon as I took in the familiar sites. I always took a long gaze at a strange cleared-out patch of land with some materials resting there. If they started construction, it would be fun to see their progress each day. On the other side of the road was the prominent clock tower our town was best known for, but if your town is known for a crumbly old clock that doesn't even work, you know that your town isn't noted for much.

I kept going until I reached the strangest place of all. It was a house with a grass-less yard. Instead, someone had made a small Pokemon battlefield and placed some benches on either side. I would always lean against the fence and imagine myself battling here. Rumors of an old man spread around school, but since most of the students were from Asperita, I don't think they really had any idea. Since I only came down in the morning, it was no real surprise that I'd never seen anyone here. If it was an old man, he probably slept at this hour.

I whipped around and dashed back down the road, swiftly turning onto the road leading to Aspertia. I smelled a crisp scent of water as I ran all the way to the city. I stopped and leaned against a pretty white fence when I reached the small green-and-white building that stood between the road and the city. After a few deep breaths, I resumed walking into the buildings wide entrance. Besides the air-conditioning, the only thing I liked about the building was the news that scrolled across the black screen. It currently read "Get on a train and fight! -Battle Subway in Nimbasa City" which I'd seen before. I walked out the other end.

Aspertia City was a very clean and pretty sort of place. It rested high on the mountains and you could see half the region if you knew where to stand. Flowers lined random spot on the side and there were fences on nearly every road. I walked straight down the road, past rows of apartments, until I turned at the corner with the Pokemon Center. Conveniently beside it was the Trainer School/Gym. I slowly entered.

Right when I walked in I was faced with rows of lockers. I walked to mine, which happened to be one of the farthest from the door, and got my things ready. The hallway was always very neat at the beginning of the day, just like the rest of the town. I walked into the classroom and found my seat beside my friend Shelby. Her hair was a honey color and was neatly curled. Despite her looks, though, she was quite the nerd.

Our teacher, Cheren, walked in slowly, flipping through some papers. He had long black hair and eyes that spoke of wisdom. Despite his calm demeanor, he could get pretty rowdy in class on a good occasion. After carefully setting his papers down, he turned to face the class. His look was focused. We were probably not doing anything particularly exciting today.

We ended up doing a lesson about ghost types. Cheren calls them "the most mysterious type" because they changed up so many rules. I took notes that looked something like this:

_Ghost Type:_

_can always escape from battle and can't be recalled by another pkmn_

_are immune to normal and fighting_

_weak against dark and other ghosts_

_rarest type_

_are very good with status effects_

_only ten pure ghost pkmn_

_amazing accuracy_

_often seen haunting buildings_

_can often break laws by going through walls and floating_

At the end of class, Cheren gave us a smile and said, "We have some good news, though!" Everyone sat up and listened, because when Cheren had good news, it was important. "We finally decided where the end-of-the-year trip will be!"

He walked around the class and handed out papers. Each time someone got one, they would gasp in excitement. It wasn't long until one was placed on my desk. It read: "Parents! This year's final trip will be at Nimbasa City. We will be watching a professional game, spending most of the day at an amusement park, and even meet another gym leader! This is an opportunity you do not want your child to miss. It is 20000 poke for the whole trip. We hope to see you there!"

**Author's Note: 20000 poke is approximately 200 dollars, or 122 pounds or 150 euros or 20900 yen or 7900 Gambian dollars... you know.**

It was twenty-thousand poke. Twenty-thousand poke. There was no way I could go. My grandparents didn't exactly have a load of money to waste. Last year's trip had been only five-thousand poke.

Looking around, I noticed that most people looked raring. I was probably be the only one in the class who couldn't afford it. Even Shelby was jabbering away to me about the rides at the park and how pretty the gym leader there was. I pretended to listen for a few minutes while feeling bad for myself, then made some excuse for why I had to leave earlier than usual. There was nobody in the hallway besides me as I got my stuff and walked out the door. No one batted an eye as I walked down the rows of apartments. I was planning on walking straight home, but I suddenly felt like crying. This was not the first time I had been left out of an event because I didn't have the money.

I saw a sign that said "Aspertia City Outlook Ahead" and took the path it pointed. The only other time I'd gone there was when Shelby first showed it to me. I walked up the long staircase to the top. As tears began to well up in my eyes, I sauntered over to the edge and peered at the astounding view. It didn't feel astounding to me at that moment. I leaned over the railing, trying to get my tears to make the long fall down, but I couldn't get them passed the grass at the edge. At least my pain was helping something grow.

Eventually I got over it and walked home. I was never super sad in the first place, mostly just frustrated with my situation. I loved traveling, but I never had the money to see the world. Making sure there were no tears left on my face, I reached home and walked inside. I went straight to my room and played games for awhile. Then I decided to take Penny on a walk.

She doesn't need a leash. Lillipups are very smart, so whenever I call her and point at my side she'll walk next to me. I went up the road just like I did in the morning. When I stopped to look at the strange house again, I swear I saw a shadow move by in the curtained window. I decided to forget about it after a few seconds of careful watching.

I hadn't wanted to go on a walk for no reason. I felt refreshed as I passed over a squeaky bridge. I had named the river it crossed over Poliwag Stream because the first time I came here with my grandma, a Poliwag had jumped out and squirted water on my face. This route had more than just that memory tied to it.

It wasn't a long way to Flocessy Ranch, which was where I had been heading. I immediately felt excited as I saw the wooden entrance and car tracks in front of the building. I greeted Mrs. Sugaku, who was tending to the Mareep. Penny disappeared, but I know she had run off to play with the Sugakus' Herdier, so I didn't mind. I played with the three dogs, some of the Mareep, and Mrs. Sugaku's little daughter.

I felt a lot better as I was walking back to my house. Penny seemed a lot happier too. As I was walking by that one house, I stopped in surprise when I saw people battling on the field. It appeared to be two kids. One was a little girl with glasses and the other was a boy, who was commanding a Pansear.

"Use Incinerate!" he yelled. The Pansear quickly obeyed, shooting a wave of fire at the poor girl's Pansage. It quickly fainted, of course.

"Noooo!" the girl cried, rushing over too her Pokemon. "Pansage, you always lose!"

I heard an unfamiliar voice and noticed the quiet old man watching them for the first time. His hair looked just like the Pansear's fire had. "Cassie, you know why, don't you?"

She sniffed and nodded. "Because it's a grass type and Pansear burned it up."

"Right," he cleared his throat, "so tomorrow I'll give you a more fair battle."

The two kids looked excited as he mentioned a battle. They ran into the house and came out a minute later with some things, then left side-by-side. "Goodbye Alder!" they called in unison.

Alder waved with a serene smile on his face. Then his bright grey eyes settled on me. "What are you doing, standing there? You've been staring at us for awhile now. Besides, your Pokemon is getting impatient." I hadn't even noticed Penny lightly tugging at my pants.

I nodded to him and dashed off, feeling shy. My grandparents didn't have a chance to greet me as I ran straight to my room and collapsed onto my bed, Penny at my heels in curiosity. The rumors were true.


End file.
